Phantoms Versus IronPigs: “Battle of the Boxoffice”

“der Sport- Beobachter” is looking at the attendance in head-to-head contests when the IronPigs and Phantoms are both home on the same evening: (German translation courtesy Google)

ALLENTOWN, PA

Another spectacular (if not terribly successful) evening of professional competition here in America’s Mecca Of Minor League Sports saw the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms just barely edge out the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs by fourteen people in the third-ever Battle At The Box Office held here in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Perhaps reinforced by the ‘special guest’ appearance of the Professional View Obstructionist Cameron Hughes, the Phantoms were able to attract 8,433 people to the PPL Center downtown to watch the Hamilton Street Heroes lose to the intra-state rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (as per usual). Meanwhile, over on the East side, the IronPigs welcomed an official crowd of 8,419 spectators to Coca-Cola Park to see the Lovable Losers succumb to the Pawtucket Red Sox.

The AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms have now outdrawn the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs on all three occasions when both teams have home games :

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April 10, 2015 … Phantoms 8,143 – IronPigs 7,025

April 11, 2015 … Phantoms 8,649 – IronPigs 8,459

April 15, 2016 … Phantoms 8,433 – IronPigs 8,419

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Is this concrete proof that, here in the Lehigh Valley, ice hockey is more popular than baseball or are there mitigating circumstances which must also be considered?

When hockey is in its 9th season in the Lehigh Valley, we’ll see which sport is REALLY number one! The IronPigs have proven their ability to keep large crowds coming over the years. They’re also the team that proved once and for all that minor league sports are viable in the Lehigh Valley.

April 11th of 2015 was also a Sunday where the IronPigs got started early afternoon and then the Phantoms dropped the puck much closer to the dinner hour … but, for the purposes of fanning the flames of box office battles here in Allentown, simply playing on the same date will do all the same. 🙂

Nope … IronPigs pound on Phantoms at the gate by a record margin of 2,167 spectators … Previous record margin was 1,118 fans when Phantoms beat IronPigs in Allentown’s very first Battle of Box Office last season (fact is, it rained that night, just for the historical record)